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A cargo ship that mysteriously disappeared after sailing through the English Channel was last night spotted in the Atlantic by the Portuguese Navy.

There was an unconfirmed report that hijackers were demanding a $1.5 million ransom for the 15 Russian sailors aboard the vessel, the Arctic Sea, after they had been missing for more than two weeks.

The vessel’s disappearance started an international maritime search when it vanished shortly after the crew made contact with Dover coastguard on June 28. The ship sailed along the South Coast but its tracking beacon seemed to disappear near Penzance.

"He said that the hijackers — two Russians, four Estonians and two Latvians — were in detention on the Russian anti-submarine ship Ladny"http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6800169.ece

Confirm the involvement of Mossad in the kidnapping of Russian cargo ship

A: According to sources, a Russian newspaper that the persons who are suspected of being pirates who boarded the cargo ship "Arctic Sea", in fact, members of the Israeli intelligence (Mossad) were trying to prevent the ship from the transfer of weapons to Iran.

According to Russian media that the ship may have been, "Arctic Sea" cruise missile X-55 illegally hidden among a load of sawdust.She told "Novaya Gazeta" that the men working on behalf of the Israeli Mossad kidnapped the ship, adding that the sudden visit of Israeli President Shimon Peres to Moscow this month, 18 day after the location of the "Arctic Sea" was to contain the situation. He called on Peres, according to the newspaper, during the Moscow visit, that the provision to Iran of weapons or missile defense systems. Russian authorities deny that the vessel was smuggling weapons. The Russian authorities had earlier denied speculation that the cargo ship Arctic Sea, which lost about three weeks ago that was smuggling weapons.". He said Russian Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Dmitry Rogozin, the claims by some military experts that there were cruise missiles bound for Iran, hidden beneath a cargo ship from sawdust are allegations of "fake" and "ridiculous.". Rogozin added that the deployment of a Russian fleet in the Black Sea at great cost to free the hijacked ship was for the Russian sailors, not the supposed shipment of arms. Formally charged". In developments, the Russian authorities on Friday formally charged eight people on charges of abduction of the cargo ship "Arctic Sea."

Jerusalem Post also has the Mossad story that I tried to link earlier:...reports claiming the pirates were acting in league with the Mossad in order to halt a shipment of modern weapon systems hidden on board and destined for the Islamic republic. ...Pravda's Web site reported that the ship had been smuggling cruise missiles to Iran on a well-worn path via Algeria, but a "power that has relations with Ukraine" had prevented this. Novaya Gazeta reported that the hijackers had been operating on behalf of the Mossad. It also reported that President Shimon Peres's visit to Moscow the day after the Russians recaptured the vessel had been motivated by an urgent request to his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, to refrain from arming Iran. ...Israeli security agents routinely stage surprise at-sea boardings of ships headed to Israeli ports to search for terrorists, contraband and stowaways.

In March, Israeli forces reportedly struck a weapons convoy in Sudan, some 1,400 km. from the Jewish state. According to CBS, the weapons were intended for Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Nearly 40 people were killed in that attack.